May 23/05 11:28 am - 2006 Commonwealth Games Criteria

Posted by Editor on 05/23/05

CCA Releases Commonwealth Games Selection Criteria

The Canadian Cycling Association has released the selection criteria for the 2006 Commonwealth Games team. The Games are to be held next Spring in Melbourne, Australia. The full document (PDF) can be downloaded here.

In summary, the document provides a long list of currently eligible athletes, the proposed size of the team (19 athletes) and the selection criteria. The breakdown of the team is as follows:

Road Events- 6 riders- National champion plus top UCI rider for women, and three Committee Choice (plus one other rider from another discipline - ie, mountain bike)- National champion plus four Committee Choice (plus one other rider from another discipline - ie, mountain bike)- Up to three riders can also do the Individual Time Trial

Track Events- Lori-Ann Muenzer for Sprint (and probably 500M TT)- 3 men (Committee Choice from Camp and World Cups) for Sprint/Team Sprint- 1 woman for Endurance (Points/Pursuit), based on first two World Cups, decided through Committee Choice- 1 man for Endurance (Points/Kilo/Scratch/Pursuit), based on first two World Cups, decided through Committee Choice

Mountain Bike- National champion plus one Committee Choice for both men and women

A few comments:

1. Why are we planning on sending only 2 mountain bike athletes for each of the men's and women's races? In the women's category, we have the potential to sweep all three medals, with riders such as Marie-Helene Premont, Alison Sydor, Kiara Bisaro and Lyne Bessette to choose from. On the men's side, we have Roland Green, Geoff Kabush, Chris Sheppard, Max Plaxton, Ricky Federau, Mat Toulouse and Seamus McGrath... If there is a concern about total team size, then remember that riders such as Alison Sydor, Lyne Bessette, Roland Green, Geoff Kabush, Max Plaxton and Mat Toulouse have lots of road experience. Mountain biking is a strength for Canada, why not take full advantage of it?

2. There is an enormous amount of Committee Choice here (aside from the Track). Why are World Championships not included explicitly in the selection procedure? We are not suggesting that the Committee cannot make good choices, but the Worlds are certainly closer chronologically to the Games, and feature much stronger competition.

3. National Time Trial Champion is a "maybe" (can be replaced by Committee Choice). Should this not be a locked in position?